Just how good was Bryan Trottier?

[Dennis Bonvie]

Well they didn't call him killer for nothing

and I'm not talking about that guy

Jerry Lee Lewis?

 

[BobbyAwe]

How do I figure Bryan Trottier was tougher than Doug Gilmour?

'Cause he was tougher.

He hit harder, hit more often, had a meaner streak and was more difficult to play against then Doug Gilmour.

I don't equate hitting with toughness necessarily. Like a Johnny Bucyk for example. Trottier and Bucyk didn't hit because they were MEAN, they hit because it's a strategic weapon and they were good at it. Trottier was certainly not a shrinking violet. He had HEART - he wasn't afraid or easily intimidated, but he wasn't the kind of tough guy a coach would put out on the ice because there was trouble brewing. Gilmour may have not have actually fit that bill either, but he fought more often than Trottier and he was feistier in general? You might argue Trottier was JUST as tough, but I don't think you can make a case that he was TOUGHER than Gilmour?

P.S) "Tougher to play against" is also not an indication of "toughness". It depends how you define toughness, but in general, when most think of a tough player, they think of an O'Reilly or a Tiger Williams? I think Gilmour was a LITTLE closer to that than Trottier?

 

[BobbyAwe]

What I'm saying is Trottier's extra muscle mass might of enabled him to be tougher .


Comprends?

"Tougher" has to do with heart, attitude, courage, etc. There have been many tough smaller players simply because they knew they HAD to be tough to stand up to the bigger guys.

 

[BobbyAwe]

Gilmour took a lot of punishment.Trots dished it out.

"Tougher" COULD very well apply more to the guy who takes more punishment, and isn't intimidated, than to the guy who dishes it out. The guy who dishes it out MIGHT just be a dirty player and/or a bully? (not saying Trottier was a bully, but just making a general point)